What creates better performance at work?

Monday, 22nd October, 2012

In previous blogs I’ve shared my thoughts on some of the different styles of motivation, and how you can use this knowledge to motivate yourself and your team/colleagues.

I like the idea that motivation isn’t just about the traditional ‘carrot and stick’ approach, but can also be about providing opportunities for self-directed motivation. The latter is the best type – I believe – for greater, longer-lasting outcomes.

I came across this video from RSA recently (love this series – entertaining as well as informative!) and thought it gave a great example of how a company motivated its workforce once a quarter (about 6 mins in).

In brief, a company offered its employees the opportunity to work on whatever (and with whomever) they wanted for a day, as long as they reported back what they’d achieved at the end of the 24 hour period.

To make this easier – they also made the feedback session an informal meeting. This led to ideas for new products and lots of problems being resolved, that they believe wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

The example in the video is from a software company, but it got me thinking…

What motivates teachers to do their best work?

Are you more motivated by being given a pay rise?

Does a leadership role motivate you more?

Or would you be more motivated if you were given more autonomy?

The research referenced in the video suggests that once the tasks get above a basic cognitive skill level, greater monetary reward for better productivity doesn’t work … in fact for the bigger monetary rewards – it’s actually less of a motivating factor!

Would you agree with this research evidence?

Is more money a greater motivator than more autonomy for you?

Thank you for taking time to read this blog.

I’m Debbie Inglis, a performance coach, mentor and trainer, working with Heads, Principals, School leaders and their teams to maximise leadership performance, create more effective, confident, and motivated teams … in a way that brings out the best in you.

If you’re interested in my services, please get in touch, and you can read more here.